Welcome to our A2 elementary English story! Today, we have a clever tale about an old general who must save his town from a powerful enemy. But he doesn't use swords or soldiers-he uses a very smart plan. Read on to find out how the general's quick thinking wins the day!
Our interactive graded reader gives you a free and easy reading experience. Tap any word to see its meaning, listen to the full story audio, and check the lesson notes to learn more. Enjoy the story and improve your English at your own pace.
A long time ago, there was a general named General Wei. He had a very .
One day, a big enemy army came to . General Wei looked at his soldiers. "We cannot in a normal fight," he said. "We need a ."
That night, General Wei told his men, " many fires on the hills. The enemy will think our army is !"
Soon, fires burned everywhere. From far away, the hills looked .
The enemy general . He saw the fires. "Look! So many fires!" he said. "They have a big army. We cannot ."
The enemy army . They were very .
The next day, General Wei smiled. "Our clever trick !" he said. His soldiers . "Our general is so clever!" they shouted.
Long ago, a clever general named General Wei had a tiny army.
A large enemy army arrived. General Wei told his soldiers, 'We can't win a fair fight. We must use a trick.'
At night, he ordered, 'Light many fires on the hills. The enemy will think we have a big army!'
Soon, many fires lit up the hills. From a distance, it looked very bright.
The enemy general saw the fires. 'So many fires!' he said. 'Their army must be huge. We can't win.'
The enemy army retreated because they were scared.
The next day, General Wei smiled and said, 'Our trick worked!' His soldiers cheered, 'Our general is clever!'
The story of General Wei is full of words that describe intelligent tricks and strong feelings. Let's pick out a few that will make your own storytelling sharper.
These words help you talk about solving problems, describing people, and showing reactions-perfect for A2 learners.
- clever: good at thinking quickly and finding solutions (General Wei was clever.)
- trick: a smart plan to fool someone (He used a trick to scare the enemy.)
- huge: very, very big (The fires made the army look huge.)
- afraid / cheer: feeling scared / shouting with happiness (The enemy was afraid. The soldiers cheered.)
The whole story is told in the past simple because it happened in the past. Many verbs just add -ed, but watch out for irregular ones-they change completely!
Practising these irregular verbs will make your narratives feel natural and fluent.
- Regular: looked, smiled (look + ed, smile + d)
- Irregular: came → came, say → said, see → saw, go → went, light → lit
- Don't forget the helper 'did' for questions: Did he have a big army? No, he didn't.
Notice how the story doesn't just say 'They were afraid.' It shows us the fear through actions and dialogue: 'Look! So many fires!' and then the enemy army turned and went away.
Using direct speech and describing actions makes your story lively and helps listeners imagine what happened.
- Add dialogue: have characters speak their thoughts.
- Describe actions: 'He smiled' instead of 'He was happy'.
- Use simple cause and effect: 'The enemy saw the fires, so they left.'
Now you've seen how a clever trick, past simple verbs, and showing-not-telling work together. Why not make the story your own?
A little practice will help you tell about smart plans and brave characters in English with confidence.
- Retell the story from the enemy general's point of view, using the past simple.
- Invent a new trick for General Wei-what would he do next time?
- Write three sentences about a time you or someone you know used a clever idea.
The General's Clever Plan comes from the American / public-domain screen or print culture tradition and is best known as a silent feature film. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on 1926 film; public domain in U.S., so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. The original audience was usually general/family, but this version is adapted for A2 Elementary learners studying English. Adventure/comedy; Civil War setting.
If you want to look into the source tradition, start with Project Gutenberg.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A2 English Vocabulary List. After that, try 1,200 English Phrases and Expressions for another useful next step.
